Upgraded my Whetstone Sharpening Kit

[DerHusker]

I’ve been using these basic whetstones that I purchased a few years ago. I believe both stones ran me under $55.00.

They work fairly well, but are a little on the small side, so I’ve been wanting to upgrade. I had a mess of Amazon gift cards so I looked to see what I could get. The first thing I purchased for my kit was a pet food mat that will serve as my work station. If I want to sharpen in the house, I need something to contain any water or slurry from making its way onto the countertop. This is a 24” x 16” silicone mat with a ½” lip and little raised nubs to keep things from sliding around.

Next were the stones and a holder. The Suehiro brand of whetstones seemed to have excellent reviews on both Amazon and Youtube so they are what I purchased for most of them. From left to right they are a Suehiro Cerax 320 grit, Suehiro Cerax 1000 grit, Atoma Diamond 140 coarse flattening stone, Suehiro Rika 5000 and a Kiyayama 8000 grit finishing stone.

This picture shows the stone holder in the middle.

Here’s a size comparison shot between the old stones and the new stones.

Here’s a close up picture of the Kitayama 8000 stone.

Here’s a picture of my soaking pond with the mat rolled up next to it.

And finally all the stones and the holder in the container.


I just sharpened most of my knives on the old stones. I’m now going to try sharping one on the new stones to see if there is any difference. I’ll let you all know what I find out.

Thanks for looking.

[ronbrad62]

Nice! I like the idea of the mat because I have the same problem, mainly keeping everything from sliding around. It looks like you have some top notch stuff.

[food4thot]

Nice setup.

[gtsum]

Nice setup! I wish I had skills to fully utilize something like that.


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[Westx]

Great stones. I just picked up the Cerax 1,000, Rika 5,000, Atoma 400 Diamond, Suehiro holder to replace some 20 year King stones.

[Tannhauser42]

The straight razor user in me says "but...all you need is a Belgian Coticule". :D

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by ronbrad62

Nice! I like the idea of the mat because I have the same problem, mainly keeping everything from sliding around. It looks like you have some top notch stuff.

Thank you Ron.

Originally Posted by food4thot

Nice setup.

Thank you Erik.

Originally Posted by gtsum

Nice setup! I wish I had skills to fully utilize something like that.

Thank you gtsum. That's why I purchased the cheaper stones first. I can get a pretty sharp edge with them. I'm hoping the new stones will allow me to get even sharper.

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by Westx

Great stones. I just picked up the Cerax 1,000, Rika 5,000, Atoma 400 Diamond, Suehiro holder to replace some 20 year King stones.

Thank you Westx. Have you used them yet? If so, how do you like them?

Originally Posted by Tannhauser42

The straight razor user in me says "but...all you need is a Belgian Coticule". :D

Thank you Kevin. Not sure what that is but I'm sharpening knives so not sure that would work.

[sarth67]

Originally Posted by Tannhauser42

The straight razor user in me says "but...all you need is a Belgian Coticule". :D

My old coticule is SO slow on modern metals.
It puts a beauty of a shine on my old carbon steel knives and chisels but the Bd1n steel knives are too hard for it to cut with any speed. I am looking at some shaptons or those cerax stones.

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by sarth67

My old coticule is SO slow on modern metals.
It puts a beauty of a shine on my old carbon steel knives and chisels but the Bd1n steel knives are too hard for it to cut with any speed. I am looking at some shaptons or those cerax stones.

This was what first came to mind when he mentioned it.



I then googled it and came up with this. They sound interesting.

[sarth67]

Originally Posted by DerHusker

This was what first came to mind when he mentioned it.



I then googled it and came up with this. They sound interesting.

Coticles are amazing stones and the Belgum blue you see on the bottom is also a beauty of a stone. The Garnets naturally embedded in them make for a terrific sharpening experience. One of my Favorite Natural sharpening stones. Disclaimer I have not messed with many naturals from Japan.

like any natural the experience differs from stone to stone. They are also becoming more and more rare The old quarry stones go for quite a bit.

[ModelMaker]

Geez you guys spend more on stones than I do on knives!!
Ed

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by ModelMaker

Geez you guys spend more on stones than I do on knives!!
Ed

That may be true but my knives will never be dull going forward.

[Sid Post]

Originally Posted by DerHusker

Next were the stones and a holder. The Suehiro brand of whetstones seemed to have excellent reviews on both Amazon and Youtube so they are what I purchased for most of them. From left to right they are a Suehiro Cerax 320 grit, Suehiro Cerax 1000 grit, Atoma Diamond 140 coarse flattening stone, Suehiro Rika 5000 and a Kiyayama 8000 grit finishing stone.

Sounds like you spent some time on the Japanese blade forums sites or, you might be a woodworker in disguise.

Those are all well regarded Waterstones. I hope you enjoy them.

[sarth67]

He has done his research. Most anyone would be happy with that sharpening kit.